891. Anniston, Calhoun County (AL02)

Now that’s a courthouse!  The only thing that kept me from spotting it immediately was that there were just enough buildings around it that I couldn’t get a good look at the area, but there was little question what this building was.  I was also impressed by the Federal Courthouse across the street and thought something notable must have happened here if it had this kind of Federal presence.  I didn’t know about the Anniston Bus Attack or the Freedom Riders National Monument.  On the other hand, there was a plaque at the courthouse that told about the death of Willie Brewster and the unexpected conviction of his killer by an all-white jury, the first such conviction in Alabama. 

The cache involved a little more adventure than I expected.  When I started driving to GZ, I figured from the map that it would involve some rural backroads.  When I hit the road going 45 degrees upward, I realized I might be off in my assessment.  For a second I worried that the car wouldn’t make it up the hill, but it managed.  After managing to not take the road that wasn’t a road, I made it to the top of a hill overlooking town that I never saw because of all the trees lining the side of the road.  I parked a little above the cache and made my way through some light woods to a cute little joke awaiting me, hanging from a tree branch.  Heads up, indeed…  Unfortunately, it wasn’t waterproof because the log was soaked, but a find in a find is a find.  Once my work there was done, I slowly drove back down the hill, got some gas, and continued on to…